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Old January 10, 2013, 03:02 PM   #1
10851Man
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Best Source Pietta .36 Caliber Conicals & Balls:

I would appreciate the forum's input on this.

I don't want to cook lead anymore....

What are good charges for these projectiles????
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Old January 10, 2013, 03:14 PM   #2
TomADC
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If I don't cast for a certain caliber I use this person from the castboolit website.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...ght=masscaster
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Old January 10, 2013, 03:38 PM   #3
10851Man
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Cool, got a contact e-mail for him????
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Old January 10, 2013, 03:43 PM   #4
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No I send him a PM when I need something. You may want to join castboolits its a great site.
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Old January 10, 2013, 04:01 PM   #5
10851Man
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Looks like I will be joining up!!!!

What's a good load for a .36 with a 5.5" barrel????

IIRC, I used to shoot 20 grains under a 95 grain ball, but I don't recall my conical loads....
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Old January 10, 2013, 07:13 PM   #6
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20 grains with a conical is a good load.
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Old January 10, 2013, 07:15 PM   #7
10851Man
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What are the .36 conicals and balls weighing in at???
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Old January 10, 2013, 07:45 PM   #8
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I second the recommendation for Jeff (MassCaster).
He's a great guy. I get my round balls from him too.
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Old January 10, 2013, 08:02 PM   #9
Hawg
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My .36 conicals are 130 grain.
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Old January 11, 2013, 03:02 PM   #10
10851Man
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Cool, man..thanks....
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Old January 12, 2013, 06:12 PM   #11
10851Man
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So, 20 grains with a 130gr conical???

What about a 95gr ball???
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Old January 12, 2013, 07:06 PM   #12
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I use 25 with a ball. Most use 20.
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Old January 13, 2013, 04:44 AM   #13
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My Colt 2nd generation 1851 Navy takes a maximum of 27 grains of Goex FFFG with a .380 inch diameter ball weighing about 90 grains. That's without a felt wad.
This is as much as I can get into the Colt.
My two Remington .36s, one made by Pietta and the other by Uberti, each max out on about 30 grains.
In my Colt 1851 I typically use 22 to 24 grains of Goex FFFG black powder, with lubricated wad and .380 inch ball. This is also a good load in the Remingtons.
The lightest I'll go is 20 grains, which I use for target shooting.
The Remingtons have fairly short rammers, so any less than 20 grains and I can't be assured that I'm shoving the ball down far enough to be snug against the powder. This is with a lubricated felt wad, too.
In my shooting kit I have a little plug of 5/16" hardwood dowel that I can put on top of the ball and use the rammer against. This ensures that the rammer will apply enough pressure to seat the ball firmly on the powder.
Leaving a space between ball and powder creates a dangerous condition that can raise pressures considerably.
In my 1862 Colt made by Pietta, I use a maximum of 18 grains. Its chambers have much less capacity than the Navy, because it's built on the 1849 frame made for .31 caliber.
I haven't found a conical bullet as accurate as the ball in my .36 revolvers. I've tried a number of different ones, including the Lee of both .375 and .380 diameter, and the Buffalo Bullet.
The .44-caliber Lee bullet is accurate in my .44s, but for some reason not nearly so in my .36s. It would be interesting if Lee made a .31 conical based on the same design, to see whether the caliber or design may be the problem in the smaller calibers.
I generally avoid loading conical bullets; not as accurate, slower to load, more expensive to buy (if you don't cast your own) and generally more bother. Velocity is lower too, because you must use less powder to make room for the conical bullet's greater volume in the chamber.
I like the .36 caliber. I wish someone would produce a stainless steel target .36 of Remington design, with modern sights and fairly deep rifling with gain twist. It would be a great shooter and small game gun.
I have an Uberti-made Remington target revolver in .36 caliber, made in 1973, but the rifling is so shallow that it's not nearly as accurate as my stock Uberti-made Remington .44 revolver.
I'd be tempted to rebarrel the Remington .36 target model, but it's a fairly rare bird so I'm keeping it original. There are plenty of Remington .44s with modern, target sights, but you very rarely see a .36-caliber of such configuration.

So yeah ... start with 22 grains of FFFG with a .380" diameter ball and felt wad twixt powder and ball. See how that works for you.
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Old January 13, 2013, 05:25 PM   #14
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Ugly cat,

Thank you for the informative post. I am puzzled by something you wrote though. You mention the 1862 Colt by Pietta being made in the smaller 1849 .31 caliber frame.

I bought a 1862 Colt Police by Pietta that is six-shot, whereas the genuine police models are a much smaller five shot model.

Pietta describes it as made on the 1851 navy frame????
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Old January 13, 2013, 06:48 PM   #15
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The Uberti is made on the 49 frame. Pietta is made on the 51 frame, pretty sure it always has been.
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Old January 14, 2013, 03:50 AM   #16
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The Gun Works lists Buffalo .36 Pistol Bullets under Shooting Supplies - .375 diameter:

Home page:

http://www.thegunworks.com/GunIndex.cfm

Quote:
Bullets - Revolver - .36 Cal - .375 Dia - 125 Gr - RN-SB

The only conical revolver bullet commercially manufactured. These bullets are made of pure lead with a round nose to fit the loading lever of most black powder revolvers. The heel of the bullet is reduced to aid in concentric loading of the revolver cylinder. Prelubricated with an all-natural lubricant. Packed 50 bullets per box. .36 caliber, .375 diameter, 125 grain - Round Nose - Shallow Base.

Last edited by arcticap; January 15, 2013 at 11:48 AM.
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Old January 14, 2013, 09:59 AM   #17
10851Man
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Thank you guys. Sorry for all the questions, but I appreciate your insight and experiences greatly...
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Old January 23, 2013, 05:30 PM   #18
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What would a good FFFg charge be under a .26 caliber 125 grain conical in a steel frame Navy????
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Old March 11, 2013, 05:23 AM   #19
bigbuck007
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Colt 1860

Dear all

so far i am using .457 round balls and 20 grain BP and filler (coffee) .

For using conicals is it mandatory to reduce the BP ?

What is your experience?

regards

Thomas
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Old March 11, 2013, 08:24 AM   #20
kwhi43
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Bet you all get a kick out of this. It is a true .36 cal I use for most serious
Target shooting revolver matches at Friendship.

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Old March 11, 2013, 11:29 AM   #21
10851Man
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Nice piece....

Wouldn't be legal in SASS though would it????

I shot police competitions with a 1927 Colt .45 Auto that had only a modified 90° firing pin stop radii and 14.5 lbs recoil spring and shot circles around guys with Les Baers, etc...
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Old March 11, 2013, 12:05 PM   #22
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No, I don't shoot SASS. Just NMLRA matches. This will shoot dime size groups
At 50yds from a Ramson rest.
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Old March 11, 2013, 02:08 PM   #23
10851Man
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Forgive my ignorance, but what is NMLRA????
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Old March 11, 2013, 02:13 PM   #24
10851Man
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What's your best load/projectile data thus far????
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Old March 11, 2013, 07:46 PM   #25
kwhi43
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NMLRA is the National Muzzleloading Rifle Association founded in 1933.
Everybody should be a member. We shoot everything from shotgun, trap
And skeet, sporting clays, long range 1,000 yds. Offhand rifle, single shot
Pistol, revolver. Red Dot sight matches, bench pistol, 100 yd pistol.
You name it. These are held on our 600,acre range located in Friendship In.
I been going for over 20 yrs. Link to it http://www.nmlra.org/

Last edited by kwhi43; March 11, 2013 at 08:41 PM.
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